Several months ago, I went to a yoga class. During this class, the instructor tried to force me to coo happily, which I refused. This woman was really into making the class express their feelings of serenity verbally. And most of the women were into it, as well.As we all lay on the floor stretching, all I could hear around me were "ahhs" of pleasure and sighs of bliss. I stifled my giggles as the women around me loudly displayed their state of harmony with the universe. I myself lay silent and still, content to just breathe quietly. This didn't go over well with the instructor, who prodded me into making some sort of noise to indicate that I was exhaling.

I just couldn't do it. It felt weird and unnatural. While I feel perfectly comfortable swearing, huffing, groaning, and making noises of irritation when need be, happy sounds just feel wrong, somehow. I'm really happy, honestly. I just prefer to express my happiness in ways other than porno noises.

In Chinese medicine, the sounds that we make signify which organ system represents our basic constitution. Someone with a "Spleeny" personality has a certain sing-songy quality to their voice. They may also tend to hum or sing a lot. A Livery person might either have a louder, more assertive voice, or simply shout more in general. Kidney people are groaners, Lung people sigh a lot, and Heart people laugh often (with Heart people, this laughter may sometimes be excessive or inappropriate.) The point here is, who knew that something as seemingly insignificant as the sounds you make, could tell your acupuncturist so much about you?